Disk with air operations data stolen from Air Headquarters

An external computer disk containing information on air operations in the country has gone missing from the operations wing of Air Headquarters here. Air Force officials told The Hindu on Friday that the IAF was conducting a Court of Inquiry but insisted the information on the disk was not particularly sensitive.

Attaching utmost priority to the case, the officials said suitable action would be taken against the custodian from whose office the device went missing some 10 days ago. Prima facie, the officials said, it appears to be a case of â€œcommercial theftâ€ and that the information stored on the portable disk contains data about service transport that the IAF operates.

IAF HQ has strict access control, and personnel working in Vayu Bhavan have to go through biometric devices like iris scanners.

Visitors are screened strictly and allowed to enter the building with escort according to well-laid down procedures.

Nonetheless, the theft has put the entire system on alert since the armed forces and the Defence Ministry do not allow sensitive information to be stored on computers connected to the Internet. The practice was instituted some years ago after there were reports that computers containing sensitive data were hacked, with a case emanating from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands tri-service command.

Two years ago, following the hacking report, organisations under the MoD are supposed to have worked out a â€˜crisis management planâ€™ for a measured response in case of any untoward incident.

The Defence Information Assurance and Research Agency, a nodal body mandated to deal with all Tri-Services and the MoD cyber security related issues, works in close coordination with national agencies like the Computer Emergency Response Team â€“ India (Cert-In) and the National Training Research organisation (NTRO). Services HQs have an information security policy and their networks are audited as per guidelines, the Ministry said then.